iFixByx

Mark is revered in the bike community.
When I go to other bike shops and tell them that Mark is working on my bike, they quietly nod with respect. And that makes sense. His reputation is of a Merlin in bike repair.
Why only 3 stars? I actually feel maybe 1 or 2 stars would be more appropriate but he’s a good guy and I think this was just an odd case. First time I went over to his shop, he squeezed me in for a quick shifting adjustment and sent me on my way, gratis. Classy.
On the next round though, he hit a wall trying to solve a squirly brake problem that other bike shops were also mystified by. When the bike was deemed «ready,» I went in and he said, «It’s not perfect, but it’s about as good as I can get it.» When I went out to the street, the bike would not stop. At all. No brakes with a rider on it. Super dangerous. It was obvious that it had not been road tested despite my requests.
I went back up and gave him the report and he said he would give it another go. No real sense of responsibility for having sent a customer onto 37^th Street with no brakes. It got weird though, because he kind of went… silent. He said he was going to order parts and it would take a week. 2 weeks passed and when we stopped being able to reach him. I left voicemail calmly explaining that I didn’t mind if it took a month to fix (that’s how long the bike was there, if not more) as long as I was given an ETA or update. No response. It got so weird that I ended up calling someone else that shared the room with him just to make sure he was OK. He was.
I walked in to take my non-​working bike back (this place is by appointment only). Finally when I walked in, Mark apologized for falling out of touch and realized it was awkward. I asked for a refund which I got.
I have a lot of respect for genius types that have idiosyncrasies and understand that we’re human and some have social quirks… But in a service based business where safety is concerned, to A) not do a road test and B) not call with updates or meet promises… well… hmmm…
Another bike shop figured out that was wrong with the brakes (including what was caused by either Bicycle Habitat or Mark or both) and solved it in 4 days, including ordering parts. Fast. Courteous. Great communication. I’ve reviewed them separately.
Would I go back to iFixByx? Maybe. He does a nifty job of converting rims to be tubeless. It’s a bummer of an experience though.